There is a growing connection between the up and coming grunge rockers out of New England and a select few New York City bands.  Artists like Krill, Ovlov, and Pile have been taking and doling out influence from and to NYC bands like Bluffing, Big Neck Police and the focus of this review, The Gradients.  The last time I saw The Gradients was at the Living Gallery in Brooklyn last summer, so when I witnessed the solid crowd of followers that the band had amassed at Hot 97.4 this past weekend I was excited to see how their sound had evolved.  Indeed The Gradients have come a long way; their songs contain powerful, driving melodies complete with an exciting, New York City-themed frustration.  Their use of lazy harmonies is especially effective on their new single, "Growing Pile," where the chorus becomes layered in raspy vocals of that good, sweet teenage angst we all know and love.  You can check out The Gradients next week on July 29th at Palisades with Washer, Palm and The Doozies.  - Jake Saunders

Deli Nation,

Our Year End Poll for Emerging New England Artists was - as usual - a painstaking (and somewhat excruciating) process, but we pulled it off with remarkable flair!

Kudos to indie rock slackers Krill (pictured) for winning it hands down!

Thumbs up to multifaceted blues rock songwriter Sarah Borriello and to pop experimenters And the Kids.

Here is how it all went down: first, we let the local bands submit their music (for free) and got our Deli editors to pick the nominees. Then we polled a list of 15+ New England scene experts (our jury) and asked them to nominate three more bands of their choice each. Then we polled our writers, then we polled our readers. We tried to keep things open for each single genre, from Indie Rock to Roots Music to Hip Hop.

If you are a geek interested in all the subtelties related to how this poll works, you can read its rules here (happy reading!). But if all you care about is the awesome new music New England produced in the year 2013, this list is all you need. Enjoy!

BEST OF 2013 POLL FOR EMERGING NEW ENGLAND ARTISTS ****** FINAL RESULTS ******

ARTIST J W OS R TOT   1 KRILL 9 1   0.005 10.005 2 Sarah Borrello 3 1   0.004 4.004 3 And The Kids 3     1 4 4 Animals and Shapes 2 1   0.114 3.114 5 Pale Cowboy     3 0.077 3.077 6 Violent Mae 3     0.054 3.054 7 Magic Island   1 2 0.047 3.047 8 Alpenglow 3     0.03 3.03 9 Speedy Ortiz 3     0.014 3.014 10 Will Dailey 3     0.011 3.011 11 Ovlov 3     0.003 3.003 12  Kal Marks 2 1   0.003 3.003 13 Dust Witch 3     0.002 3.002 14 Grass is Green 3     0.001 3.001 15 Hayley Sabella 3     0 3  16 Bearstronaut 3     0 3 17  Mals Totem     1 2 3  18 Harpoons 3       3 ? 19 Rusty Belle 1     1.5 2.5 20 The Box Tiger 2     0.173 2.173 21 Miss Geo   1 1 0.062 2.062 22 Jesse Dee 2     0.048 2.048  23 Bella's Bartok 2     0.047 2.047 24 Paper Castles 2     0.013 2.013  25 Consuelo's Revenge 2     0.007 2.007 26 Guerilla Toss 2     0.006 2.006 27 Bent Shapes 2     0.004 2.004 28 Daphne Lee Martin 2     0.002 2.002  29 Blue Button 2     0.002 2.002  30 Dan & the Wildfire 2     0.002 2.002 31 Fear the Masses 2     0.001 2.001  32 Ashley Jordan 2     0.001 2.001  33 The Range 2     0.001 2.001 34 Big Big Buildings     1.5 0.032 1.532 35 Contrapposto 1     0.032 1.032 36 Tomboy 1     0.031 1.031 37 Jatoba 1     0.017 1.017 38 Art Decade 1     0.014 1.014 39 Frank Viele 1     0.011 1.011  40 You Won't 1     0.008 1.008 41 Civil Pilots 1     0.007 1.007 42 Home Body 1     0.004 1.004  43 Atlantic Thrills     1 0.004 1.004 44 Ryan Montbleau Band 1     0.003 1.003 45 Barika 1     0.002 1.002 Legend: J = Jurors, W = Deli Writers, R = Deli Readers, OS = Open Submissions

List of jurors: Vern (The Room, CT); Christie Leigh (CNC Music Productions); Adam Morgan (blogger); Lev McCarthy (WRUV); Jackie Indrisano (Cafe 939, MA); Trevor Morrison (WHUS); John Fleming (The Colosseum, RI); Ellie Molitor (Allston Pudding); Joe (Radio Bean, VT); Dan Kuhn (WWPV); John (The Elevens, MA); Liz Pelly (fvckthemedia.com); Bryan (Hillytown music blog); Joseph Graham (New England Music Awards); Perry Eaton (BDCWire.com)

Hope you'll find some awesome new artists you weren't aware of!

The Deli's Staff

All Joan Jett references aside, I love rock n’ roll. Really. And Krill’s latest release, Lucky Leaves, piles on the rock in heaping portions. I really like the guitar work on this record--loud and distorted, in-your-face, but reserved at the same time. The guys in this band really know how to play their instruments. The vocal melodies on this album sound like Alec Ounsworth of CYHSY had one too many beers and went out singing on Boylston St. What sort of sound is that, you ask? A glorious one, that’s what. I particularly liked the last half of “Purity of Heart.” The vocals, guitars, drums--everything comes together in this super-loud, super-emotional punch in the face of rock n’ roll goodness. Definitely worth a listen. While you’re at it, if you’re in the Boston area this weekend, you can check out the band at Great Scott in Allston on Saturday, June 29. Or just listen to/buy the record on their bandcamp site. Or both! -- Dan McMahon